Portland author Chuck Thompson responds to the Litquake Author Interview with observations on losing presidential candidates, heroes, peaking early, and dying pithily.
See Thompson on October 7 at Do You Come Here Often? —Writers at the Bar.
1. What is your favorite book?- Ball Four, by Jim Bouton. Ask tomorrow, it’ll be different.
- 2. Who is your favorite writer?
- Don’t have one.
- 3. If the answers to 1 & 2 are different, why?
- Funny, I have a tendency to rank everything—football movies, best turkey sandwiches I’ve ever eaten, most regrettable losing presidential candidates (great category, by the way)—but not writers.
- 4. How old were you when you were first published?
- Including a self-published historical-romance-military trilogy? Third grade.
- 5. What writing style do you most abhor?
- Anything that sounds “crafted,” followed by anything that sounds PR’ish.
- 6. What is your favorite writing cliché?
- “There’s no such thing as great writing, only great rewriting.”
- 7. What is your favorite word?
- “Amigo” is pretty good. Kind of into “shinkansen” at the moment.
- 8. When and how do you write? (typewriter, Mac, in a café, for four hours each morning, etc?)
- When duty calls, after agonizing procrastination and with heavy deadline guilt, often transcribing/rewriting hand-scribbled notes onto a Mac. (I do not recommend anything about this method, by the way.)
- 9.What is your greatest fear when you first turn in a manuscript?
- I don’t turn in anything I’m not satisfied with. The misery comes and is slain in bloody, close-quarters combat long before that point.
- 10. In what era do you wish you’d been born?
- The 2300s.
- 11. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
- “She wailed in orgasmic fury as I …”
- 12. Which talent would you most like to have?
- Instant karma.
- 13. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
- First grade spelling bee champ, St. Theresa Catholic School. (Peaking early is a terrible thing, we need a support group.)
- 14. Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
- I have a problem with the whole “hero” thing.
- 15. How would you like to die?
- Pithily. Or at least not like this guy.
